Report Accidents Within 10 Minutes... Not Following Any Manual Management Rules

Seoul Police Agency Situation Room Chief Absent from Duty
Recognized at 11:39 PM on the Day of Itaewon Disaster
Reported to Police Agency Situation Room at 12:02 AM, 23 Minutes Later

The police special investigation headquarters (Special Investigation Unit) investigating the inadequate response to the 'Itaewon disaster' are moving seized items after completing a search and seizure at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Jongno-gu on the afternoon of the 2nd. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The police reporting system during the Itaewon disaster was so chaotic that it violated the manual management regulations. In particular, the failure of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's 112 Comprehensive Security Situation Room, which oversaw the entire security and safety situation in Seoul on the day, has emerged as a key issue in uncovering the truth behind the inadequate response to the disaster.

According to the police manual management regulations confirmed by this outlet on the 4th, created by the Police Agency's Innovation Planning and Coordination Office, when an incident like the Itaewon disaster occurs, the local police station must report the situation to the city/provincial police agency within 10 minutes, and the city/provincial police agency must report to the Police Agency within 10 minutes. However, the reporting process of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency during this disaster was so delayed that it rendered these manual management regulations meaningless. This reporting failure is considered the main cause of the disaster that claimed 156 lives.

According to this outlet's investigation, Chief Inspector Ryu Mijin, who commanded the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency 112 Situation Room on the day of the disaster, only became aware of the situation at 11:39 p.m., 1 hour and 24 minutes after the incident, upon receiving a call from the duty officer, the Situation Team 3 leader. Prior to this, the Yongsan Police Station had reported the incident to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Situation Room, but Ryu was reportedly in his office, not the Situation Room, at the time. Ryu's absence from his post caused the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency 112 Situation Room, which acts as a linchpin between the local police station and the Police Agency, to experience a reporting delay of over an hour.

Not only was the situation awareness delayed, but Ryu also failed to report the disaster occurrence to the Police Agency Situation Room in accordance with the manual management regulations. The regulations require reporting to the Police Agency Situation Room within 10 minutes, but the Police Agency Situation Room only received the report around 12:02 a.m. the next day. This was a full 23 minutes after Ryu had been informed of the disaster. Ultimately, this collapsed police reporting system led to a slow response to the disaster.

The Police Agency's Special Inspection Team reported the day before that Ryu had neglected his duties and placed him on standby, deciding to request an investigation by the Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Investigation Unit). The Special Inspection Team explained the reason for the investigation request, stating, "Despite being responsible for overall situation management, he neglected his duties, causing delays in situation awareness and reporting." They are also examining Ryu's actual movements at the time and questioning the duty officers who worked with him in the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency 112 Situation Room to determine whether normal situation duties were performed.

It is also necessary to clarify the timeline and content of reports exchanged between the Yongsan Police Station Situation Room, which has jurisdiction over the Itaewon area, and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency 112 Situation Room to understand the failure in police command reporting. However, the exact time when the Yongsan Police Station Situation Room reported to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency 112 Situation Room on the day of the disaster has not been disclosed. The Special Inspection Team is reportedly investigating this aspect as well.